Uber recently released a patch to fix a system glitch. (Photo : Reuters)
The transportation provider app Uber reported on Friday that its database was hacked by unknown hackers. The company added that the perpetrators were able to get ahold of name and license numbers of more than 50,000 of its drivers.
Uber said that they had already notified all of its drivers even those who were not affected by the hack. Fortunately, no incident has been reported that the stolen information was misused. To compensate the affected drivers, Uber decided to enroll them in Experian's ProtectMyID Alert, an identity theft protection service.
Uber added that the hack affected drivers in several states. However, this figure only represents a "small percentage" of the company's current or former driver.
The hack was initially detected in September 2014 and the company posted that incident on its official blog saying that the breach was only a one-time occurrence. Since then the company has already altered its access protocols in order to protect its database from similar attacks, according to Washington Post.
The recently reported attack on Uber adds to the long list of cybersecurtiy attacks that has targeted big corporation including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Home Depot and the health insurer Anthem.
Following the release of the hack report, Uber has already subpoenaed GitHub in order to reveal the identity of the attackers, according to The Register.
Uber is demanding that GitHub provide the IP addresses of people who accessed a particular gist post from March 2014 up to September 2014. Uber added that the gist contained the login information used by the hackers to in order to gain access into Uber's database.
GitHub refused to provide the information demanded by Uber a move that forced the latter to ask for a subpoena.
